When we talk about modern submarines we are talking about submarines from the early 1900s to now. Subs were a hot item in the world's navies and still are today. Jules Verne thought that submarines would cause peace to break out because he felt they were undetectable and would cause a sort of status quo, much as nuclear weapons did between the US and former Soviet Union.

The US commissioned the Katahdin in 1896. It was NOT a submarine but many of its design features later found themselves in early submarines. It is included here has a curiosity. It was a floating ram that sat very low in the water. It had a short life and was sent to the bottom in 1909 by the navy.

The Katahdin in 1896
Photo Source: US Navy

The first president to ever go into a sub and go for a ride was President Theodore Roosevelt. The boat was the A-1 Plunger, in 1905. Because of this ride Roosevelt instituted submarine pay because he felt the hazards of the duty called for it. Over the years the US Navy has maintained a rather large fleet of submarines. It was not the largest fleet but what it lacked in numbers it made up for in quality. The US got its first modern submarine in 1900, when it purchased the Holland VI. It spent $150,000 on the submarine The Holland company actually spent over $236,000 to built it, but felt that this was a good investment for future business. They were right because a second sub was ordered almost immediately. A couple of months later in August of that year another six submarines were ordered from Holland. The company's investment had really paid off by now. But this was only the beginning for the company because other governments were interested in the Holland submarines. The British had ordered five submarines in October 1900.

The funny thing was that you would have thought that the submarines potential was obvious to everyone. But one of the future greatest submarine powers was not always in favor of submarines. A Spanish submarine designer had approached Germany with designs. German Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz said "The submarine is, at present, of no great value in war at sea. We have no money to waste on experimental vessels." When the Germans finally ordered a submarine, in 1902, from Krupp, they wanted it to have a kerosene engine rather than the gasoline one. Even Russia ordered more subs than Germany from Krupp, they ordered three. It seemed that the whole world was more interested in subs than Germany at that moment. Submarines technology was improving rapidly. In 1904 Holland formed a new company and was building two improved submarines in Japan. One of these subs actually achieved 16 knots under water, a remarkable speed for 1904. Japan already had about seven Holland submarines.

USS Cuttlefish 1907
Photo Source: US Navy

When Holland approached the US Navy with a new streamlined design that might be able to hit speeds of 22 knots underwater, he was told that the navy felt it was too dangerous to exceed 6 knots while submerged. In 1904 when Russia and Japan were at war, Holland's old company, Electric Boat, which had pushed him aside and he finally resigned from, was selling submarines to both sides. In 1906 the Germans launched the first U-Boat. It was 239 tons, had a range of 2,000 miles, and could travel submerged at 9 knots. But the Germans were still way behind in submarines because the French and British already had about 60 submarines each.

By now many different submarine designers were building boats. Simon Lake built a submarine for the US Navy in 1909 that broke the diving record and was able to go down to 256 feet in 1914. By 1910 the shape of submarines changed. Their hulls now looked more like surface ships since it was felt that they would spend most of the time on the surface anyway. The more streamlined hulls of Holland, better for underwater speed, were now a thing of the past. The US Navy purchased plans from an Italian designer in 1911 but the subs were not up to the standard required. In 1911 a young naval lieutenant, Chester Nimitz, pushed for replacement of the gasoline engine in subs. He was successful and it was replaced by a diesel engine, lessening the chance of fire aboard ship.

In 1912 Germany finally began to realize the potential of the submarine and developed a new '30' series. These subs were quite an improvement. Each carried six torpedoes and had a 88mm deck gun. Their range was 7,800 miles. They could travel at over 16 knots on the surface and almost 10 knots under it.

USS Tarantula
Photo Source: US Navy

By the time the war broke out in 1914 Great Britain had 74 submarines with 31 under construction. France had 62 submarines with 9 under construction. Russia had 48 submarines. Germany had 28 submarines and 17 under construction. The US had 30 submarines and 10 under construction. Italy had 21 submarines and 7 under construction. Japan had 13 submarines and 3 under construction. Austria had 6 submarines and 2 under construction. The age of the submarine was upon us.